 A small group of Rotarians were looking for a major project in 2009 and one of them that was discussed was Elk Falls Park because most of us have been here at various times and it's a phenomenal park, a beautiful waterfall, so we're looking for locations that we can enhance the current view of the waterfall. I thought it was a very exciting opportunity to showcase our wonderful Elk Falls. We had a volunteer artist who drew an amazing sketch of what we proposed to build. So the three key challenges with respect to the site, having a competent base of rock that's not all broken up and fractured underneath, that's number one. Number two is to have the bridge fairly level on both sides so that the platforms are fairly level and then number three is trying to place it in the park where you can see the falls and its spectacular view without disrupting the natural beauty. Once we secured our major funding that was the point where we could keep moving the project forward. The first day of construction was a very exciting day for Rotarians because it meant that this was actually going to happen and people were getting very excited about it in the community. Today we poured 14 of the concrete footings for the stairs coming down to the lower viewing platform and hopefully the bridge anchors will be drilled in next week and continue with the bridge construction from there. In order to establish the foundation you have to drill into the rock a four inch diameter hole approximately 30 feet into the bedrock and because it's such a restricted site we don't want to get a big machine in here to disturb all the vegetation. We brought the drill in components that are built on a frame and then really by hands. These were drilled in 30 feet I believe both of them. They were tested at 178,000 pounds a piece to make sure that they would hold and that the rock was sound and everything and then we have brackets that will bolt onto those anchor rods and tie everything together. One of the most exciting days of construction was when they delivered the support posts for each end of the suspension bridge and all four were brought in by helicopter on a long line and dropped precisely on the end of the platform. It was impressive to watch. Towers are all good and secure and ready to put the cables across for the bridge. We started working on the stairs that go down to the lower platform as well and everything here has been pretty simple. All the aluminum is bolted together really well. Platform at the bottom is probably the biggest challenge because it's really high up in the air as you saw from all the scaffolding and stuff and all the beams are really big and they're heavy and awkward and getting everything down to the furthest point down the bank and up in the air that high is a bit of a challenge. When they started putting on the decking on the suspension bridge that was a momentous day because now it looks like a suspension bridge rather than cables across the canyon. Of course this is all done in a very safe manner with safety harnesses and stuff like that but when you're 60 meters above the canyon floor and you're on the edge of a walkway it's got to be a pretty nerve-wracking and pretty spectacular type of event. There we go. Two feet closer. With the decking complete getting an opportunity to look at what the view scapes are up and down the canyon and realizing that they're fantastic that canyon environment is very unique to the park that now is being opened up to the public to get a better view. I've walked out to the middle and it's spectacular. Everything that we wanted it to be as a rotary club. It's finally open and it's better than we had ever expected. It's just a fabulous view both ways. After five and a half years of planning ten months of construction it feels awesome to see how many people come up and enjoy El Falls Park like they've never seen it before and every day rain shines, there's people up here enjoying it, it's fantastic. It's so great here, it's really beautiful, it's super leaky.